The University of the Cumberlands (UC) Cross Country Teams traveled to Wilmington, Ohio this past week to compete in the Wilmington Invitational. The Cumberland men competed in the 8K event while the women's team competed in the 5K event. Both the men and women's teams had several personal records and had some outstanding finishes. The men's team finished 8th out of 36 schools while the women's team finished 13th out of 34 teams.

The first Patriot to cross the line in the men's 8k race was Jonathan Gears (Andover, OH) who ran a time of 25:44 and finished 17th overall out of 416 total runners. Directly behind Gears coming in 18th place and only four seconds behind was freshman Stephen Sartoris (Dayton, OH) with a time of 25:48. Another freshman on the team Sam Beal (Beavercreek, OH) finished third for the Patriots with a time of 26:24 in 42nd place. Donald Whyte (Miamisburg, OH) finished in 65th place with a time of 26:51. Following Whyte was Cory Heslin (Louisville, KY) who finished in 139th place with a time of 27:40. Finishing out the men's team was Josh Moon (Batavia, OH) who ran a 28:47 and finished in 149th place. The Patriots finished in 8th place out of 36 teams totaling 241 points.

The Patriot ladies competed in the women's 5k event. Finishing first for UC was freshman Madison Peace (Walton, KY) who finished in 53rd place with a time of 19:32 of 398 girls. Sydney Freeman (Corbin, KY) finished in 78th place running sub 20 with a time of 19:59. The ladies pair of freshman twins Maureen McGaha (Beavercreek, OH) and Meg McGaha (Beavercreek, OH) finished neck and neck as Maureen came in at 20:08, while Meg only two seconds behind at 20:10 finishing 94th and 95th respectively. Captain Shelby Gibbons (Hamersville, OH) finished in 147th place with a time of 20:50. Next was Christine Moon (Sardina, OH) who ran a 21:26 for a 187th place. There were two more Patriots who competed in the race which were Bonnie Nutt (Phillips, WI) and Annmarie Lake (Mason, OH) who placed 208th and 260th respectively with times of 21:36 and 22:16. The Patriot ladies finished in 13th place out of 34 teams totaling 417 points.

The Patriots Cross Country team will be traveling to Grand Rapids, MI next week for the Greater Lakes Challenge where they will face conference rival Shawnee State for the first time this season on October 26th.